In the 1960's South Africa suffered an apartheid (a system of segregation or discrimination based on race). The people of the country were organized and moved depending the color of their skin. The whites were allotted the best land, the mixed or "coloreds" were allotted less favorable land, while the blacks were given little to nothing. Regardless of their income, or property rights, people were required to vacate their current home, taking only what they could fit in the back of a truck in a matter of 24 hours. The apartheid stripped families of everything they owned. Some people lost their families, jobs, and were forced into poverty. The white regime only maintained the apartheid system until 1991, but the country is still suffering.
With a lack of jobs, poverty continues to be a problem and high drug or alcohol use are common place. The stripping of human rights has led to an increase of household abuse; much due to men seeking their lost identity. While all this sounds desperate, there is still hope for South Africa. Though they are still recovering, there has been many areas of improvement. The country has hope for their youth, and faith in the future generations to come. Movements to create after school programs and other activities like soccer leagues are being set in place in order to turn kids away from drug use and keeping them in school. There is also a rise in daycare programs so that parents can maintain jobs and keep their families afloat financially. And this is where my ministry took place in South Africa. I was to work at one of the larger daycares in the community of Ocean View.
From the very beginning, the seven of us knew South Africa was going to be a little bit different. We said our temporary goodbyes to our squad members, and quickly hopped on a train to where would be called "home" for the next month. Going from a group of 50+ in Mozambique to a house of 20 in Swaziland, and now we were going to be with only our small team of seven this month. Furthermore, we learned that we would not only be separated from the other teams, but we would also be separated from each other. We were paired with one other team member, (I was paired with Heather), and assigned to a host family within the community. Though we were all staying in different homes, we were all staying within the same neighborhood.
We were SO excited to be living in Capetown. The community we were staying in was called "Oceanview." Sounds pretty nice, right?! Yeah, that's what we thought too. We got off the train in Fish Hoek, a beautiful beach city, and caught a taxi to Oceanview. The taxi driver looked at us twice, puzzled as to why were going to Oceanview before he shut the door. It wasn't till we arrived that we understood why he was confused. The drive was only about 10-15 minutes, but the landscape changed drastically, and so did the people. As we pulled into the community, it was obvious we weren't staying in the beach neighborhood we had imagined.
Oceanview is set in a vast and almost barren terrain. Though it has many beautiful aspects, and the ocean is in view, the community living there is very low- income. Having built themselves up from nothing, there is an evident edge of hardship displayed on their faces. I was instantly weighed with burden that was not my own. Before we were led to our apartment, our contact filled us in on the history of Oceanview. That's when we realized we were going to be living amongst the "colored's" in the community they were designated to live in the times of the apartheid.
As we passed people in the streets, I felt as though all eyes were on us. I wondered what they thought about us. I couldn't imagine being colored, and not having the slightest bit of resentment towards white people for what had happened in the past. In addition to the insecurity I felt living within Oceanview, our ministry was to work alongside teachers at a kresh (or preschool) of 70 kids, ages 0-5. Unsure of why God had us there, both living wise, and ministry wise, I asked what our focus should be. Our contact responded with, "just be you, be real." I mentally braced myself, and that's where the third month our race began!
